[Joe 6-pack]

This case is quite illustrative of why, IMHO, the courts were wrong about the Stolen Valor Act. The argument could be made that the upgrade was of no monetary value, because it was free to real service members.

All this guy did was attempt to obtain free recognition to which he was not entitled; no different from somebody claiming to be a SEAL or wearing an unearned Silver Star.

[Alberta's Child]

The rationale of the courts in those cases -- and I agree with this -- is two-fold: (1) the mere fact that "recognition" is given to someone doesn't meet the standard for charging someone with a crime; and (2) there are already plenty of other laws on the books in every state of the union that apply to cases where a person uses misrepresentations like this to defraud someone or to place another person or organization in legal jeopardy. Item (2) is important because it explains why there is no place under the U.S. Constitution for a Federal criminal statute to address this through the "Stolen Valor Act."

In the case of this guy in New York, the impersonation charge would only apply if he impersonated someone to secure a financial or material advantage that should only have been accorded to the person or type of person he was impersonating. Unless the airline in question had a specific -- and publicly documented -- policy of upgrading active-duty military personnel to first class, then the guy committed no crime. The fact that a well-meaning pilot, flight attendant or other airline representative offered to upgrade him to first class simply on the basis of his uniform doesn't make him a criminal.

It's important to remember that in cases like this, the prosecutor has to show that someone suffered harm or financial loss due to the alleged impersonation. Without such a legal standard in place, the police could legitimately walk through every shopping mall in American next December and arrest thousands of men for "impersonating" a guy named Santa Claus.